Environmental Politics
Department of Political Science
011C Calvin Hall
meflynn@ksu.edu
Last Updated 2025-04-28
What are the issues?
Why is cooperation so difficult?
The environment and security issues
What is the current state of the international environmental and climate change regimes?
Why is it difficult for states and people to cooperate on climate change? What are the sources of conflict?
What are some of the key frameworks or mental models we can use to help us understand the politics of environmental issues?
How can institutions change the incentives of actors re pollution?
Pollution
Air, water, land, etc.
Sometimes related to global warming, but not always
To right: A man in Beijing wears covers her face to filter air pollution.
Snapshot of global air quality station readings, April 20, 2022.
Photo of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Photo of a sperm whale that died with 220 pounds of debris in its stomach. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/world/europe/harris-beached-whale.html
Acid rain
Industrial emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides blend with moisture in the air
Increases the acidity of rain, snow, fog, and clouds
Kills fish, insects, amphibians, bacteria, and vegetation
To right: Photo of forested area affected by acid rain
Overconsumption
Over-consumption of renewable natural resources
Consumption exceeds rate of renewal
Includes fish, terrestrial game, and animals killed for trophies or traditional medicinal remedies (elephants, rhinos), but also includes plant life.
To right: Atlantic Cod
Depleted uranium munitions
Higher density than lead
Used for armor piercing rounds
Concerns about health and environmental effects
To right: A-10 Warthog firing machine guns
Military Bases
Lots of munitions and chemicals
One massive industrial accident
Chemicals from daily operations often contaminate soil or water supplies
Old munitions may remain unexploded, harming people years later
To right: US Naval base at Pearl Harbor where fuel stored at Red Hill storage facility supplies have contaminated Hawaii’s drinking water supplies.
Many reasons:
Coordinating behavior between multiple countries and billions of people is hard
Costs of environmental protection are not evenly distributed across individuals, industries, or countries
Benefits of better protections are often diffuse.
How do we conceptualize environmental issues? What mental models can help us?
We can use concepts we’ve seen before!
Key concepts:
Public goods and Private goods
Common pool resources (CPRs): Resources that everyone can access. Examples include fisheries, hunting on public land, etc.
Negative externalities
| Excludable | Nonexcludable | |
|---|---|---|
| Rival | Private Goods | Common Pool Resources |
| Nonrival | Club Goods | Public Goods |
Collective action problem:
Assume that we all prefer a cleaner environment
There are individual costs to pursuing this goal
Gains from your individual contribution are minimal
Why not enjoy the good, but not pay for it?
.medium[ Example: Hudson River in New York
General Electric (GE) dumped massive amounts of PCBs and TCEs into Hudson River
PCBs have contaminated area drinking water, soil, etc.
These chemicals have been linked to cancer, birth defects and developmental difficulties, liver damage, kidney damage, as well as nervous system disorders
State tax dollars in excess of $50 million have been spent on cleanup
To right: NY State Department of Environmental Conservation sign declaring catch and release fishing restrictions due to pollution ]
Example: Acid Rain
Source: Power plants and industry in Midwest and Great Lakes states
Industrial emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides blend with moisture in the air
Emissions carried into Adirondack Mountains in NY and Canada where acid rain became problematic
Increases the acidity of rain, snow, fog, and clouds
Kills fish, insects, amphibians, bacteria, and vegetation
Environmental regulation can be costly
Creates winners and losers (much like trade protection!)
Costs of regulation tend to be highly concentrated
Benefits are widely dispersed (we all enjoy a cleaner environment)
Opponents of regulatory policies enjoy advantages in overcoming collective action problems
Scientific uncertainty (i.e. model prediction error)
Predictions from scientific models become increasingly uncertain over large time ranges
Uncertainty is exploited by different groups for political leverage
International sources conflict
Developing countries argue that environmental regulation is biased in that they impose unfair costs on developing states
Western countries were able to develop without worrying about environmental issues and are responsible for the largest quantities of emissions
Developed countries are also better able (more capacity) to combat climate change
Wealthier countries responsible for greater share of global emissions
There have been successes
Ozone
Acid rain
Whaling
Private-public solutions
Example: Cap and trade
Sets a cap on total output / emissions of a given pollutant
Companies can sell “credits” to other companies for pollution that they don’t produce
This incentivizes cleaner technologies, as companies can profit from reduced emissions
Representatives from countries around the world gather for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris, 2015. Photo from the World Economic Forum.
Conflict
Will climate change lead to increased armed conflict?
Yes? No? Maybe?
Direct vs indirect causal pathways?